The Science Museum of Minnesota has removed a sign in honor of slain school worker Philando Castile after it received a torrent of criticism.

The museum had erected the placard Saturday at the entry to its ongoing “RACE: Are We So Different” exhibit. The sign read, in part, “The staff and Board of the Science Museum of Minnesota join the community in mourning the tragic killing of Philando Castile.”

An undated photo shows a sign posted at the Science Museum of Minnesota’s “Race” exhibit mentioning Philando Castile, an African American man who was fatally shot by police in Falcon Heights during a July 6, 2016, traffic stop. (Photo courtesy Black Lives Matter St. Paul).

This week, the museum has been slammed with objections on its Facebook page. The facility also got negative calls and emails, said spokeswoman Kim Ramsden.

The essence of the phoned and emailed objections, according to Ramsden, is the perception that the museum was “taking sides.”

She added that the objections largely came from people aligned with or sympathetic to law-enforcement agencies. She declined to identify any of the emailers or callers.

Castile, who was black, was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights on July 6. Several family members and officials have said Castile would be alive were he white. An attorney for the officer says the officer fired because of a gun Castile had, not because of his race.

While the Castile’s death remains under investigation, it and several other violent incidents around the country this month have spurred protests over the relationship between police and minority communities.

“We had several concerns raised by people who saw the sign, or were on social media, that identified themselves as either family members or friends of the law enforcement community,” Ramsden said. “As soon as we heard yesterday within the law enforcement community (that it) felt we were taking sides, we took (the sign) down immediately.”

Ramsden said the St. Paul Police Department and other police and law enforcement agencies were aware of the sign before it went up. “We were open about the sign going up,” she said.

The museum later release a statement that read, “We posted a sign at the entrance of the RACE: Are We So Different exhibit to acknowledge the conversations occurring in the community after Philando Castile’s tragic death. It became apparent that the sign was being misconstrued and had the potential to divide the community. That was not our intent so we took the sign down. Conversations around race are challenging and must continue. We must recognize our common humanity and work together to heal going forward.”

The now-removed sign also read, “While we don’t have answers on how to heal, we hope that taking time to learn and talk with others about the history of race in our country and the systemic issues of racism as presented within our exhibition provides a deeper context for understanding the impact of race and racism on each of us individually and as a society.”

One commenter said on Facebook, “I’m appalled that as a business that bases findings on facts and evidence would post a sign (RACE exhibit) like this without waiting for all the facts and evidence. To ASSUME and post the death of Mr. Castile was based on race is very dangerous and will continue to divide our communities.”

Another wrote, “Disgusted with the fact that you allowed a sign in your business going against law enforcement and making allegations that race had something to do with the death of Castile. Shame on you for dividing our country more.”

Still another said, “It is appalling the SMM would allow such a sign be displayed disrespecting law enforcement and jumping to harsh judgments about race.”

Yet another said, “After seeing the white guilt section on floor 4, i will never support the science museum of minnesota again.”

But other Facebook posters took a different view.

Philando Castile (Courtesy photo)

“Thank you for honoring the life of Philando Castile with your exhibit on race,” one wrote. “You keep me coming back to the science museum. You are an example of how our state and our country can simultaneously do community healing and learning. I’m grateful.”

Another wrote, “ Thank you for your exhibit regarding race. And for your sign for Philando Castile. Racism is an ugly stain in this country’s history and just like with a washing machine, this stain will have to be agitated to get it out.

Yet another wrote, “Thank you for your display honoring Philando Castile, and inviting us into a deeper conversation about race and racism in our culture. We’ve always loved the SMM, but we’ll be making a special visit tomorrow with our five year old. Hopefully, with your help, he and his peers will grow up to unravel and unmake the messes we grown ups make with our fears and fragility!”

The museum’s race exhibit invites visitors to “Take a cultural and scientific look at race throughout history and discover the many reasons we should celebrate our differences and embrace our shared histories (some of which will surprise you).”

The exhibit also gets at the complex scientific question of what race is … and is not.

“Contemporary scientific understanding of race and human variation is complex and may challenge how we think about it,” according to the museum.

Ramsden said the museum continually has “science-based conversations about topics that affect our lives, and that includes race … We are a safe space for individuals to explore this topic.”

Julio's Pioneer Press duties include writing, often about tech, and helping manage the paper's website and social media. He also uses virtual-reality cameras and other tech tools to commit journalism. In his spare time, Julio writes for the TidBITS Apple-news site, where he is a contributing editor. See his blog at ojezap.com.

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When a civil rights advocate complained to a washing machine manufacturer that the company made only white washing machines, the CEO told the advocate to look inside the washing machines. Every one of them had a black agitator.

Hugh Jorgahn

The science museum that has the same old exhibits from 30 years ago. Maybe a new exhibit could be an autopsy report……oh well, I still won’t bother going to see it.

DifferentStripes

Bunch of dinosaurs in that place.

bigdrone

That’s why it’s so cool. Love how the creationists, in their theme park, show humans riding dinosaurs as if it was going on 6,000 years ago.

Viktor

Are you going to fund new exhibits?

Hugh Jorgahn

Every time I go see the mummy.

Hiawatha

How could anyone get mad over a sign expressing sadness over the loss of an innocent life? Supporters of law enforcement do themselves a disservice by petulantly fighting such a heartfelt and well meaning sentiment.

Alumni69

Because racism is rampant, even in the Twin Cities.

bigdrone

Anyone who thinks race wasn’t a factor in Castile’s shooting is deluding themselves. Which is easy to do when you know it wouldn’t happen to you.

Rick

I know it wouldn’t happen to me, because I’ve never had a revoked license, driving without insurance…

bigdrone

So those are capital crimes?

Rick

What? Please explain why you are asking about capital crimes…not sure what that has to do with this thread.

bigdrone

Castile was executed without trial. Get it now?

Rick

I get that you are judge, jury, trial, and know everything about everything.

bigdrone

Nice. Rick knows he’s an idiot too. Hope I never have to face a jury with this Einstein on it.

Whodunnit

Speaking of Einsteins…his comment is replying to you, not me. Why would you ever have to face a jury? Do you have a checkered past like those you defend? Color me shocked

bigdrone

Ever wonder if I may be a trial lawyer?

Whodunnit

Well its possible…Q: What’s the difference between a vacuum cleaner and a lawyer on a motorcycle?
A: The vacuum cleaner has the dirt bag on the inside.

Whodunnit

You’ll be okay that all criminals will now go from the street to the prison system without a charge, conviction or jury trial. Think of the millions of dollars we can save the state by getting rid of the entire court system!!! I hope they enact this soon because I have jury duty next month

J. Hagensen

Cops killing people during traffic stops is execution by cop. So what else do you need?

swagchef

If the offender is black, then yes
-conservatives

swagchef

People without money get tickets, and if they can’t pay on time their license gets revoked/suspended.

gladitsnight

The cop was also a member of a minority.

J. Hagensen

Are yu saying that minorities can’t be racist? That somehow conflicts with your statements elsewhere that BLM is racist.
But the race of the cop isn’t the point. It’s that the institution of policing is racist.

gladitsnight

I never said BLM was racist. How do you know the police are racist? If white people refused to cooperate with the police and acted out like black people do, they would be treated the same way. It is in their culture to have no respect for authority, and to not cooperate with police investigations of crimes.

J. Hagensen

Yes you have. Multiple times. Are you pretending we’ve never crossed paths on these comment boards before? You just didn’t say it in your past few posts.
If white people acted out like black people? But you’re not racist, eh? From all accounts, even the cops, Castile was cooperating. At most, according to the cops, there was confusion about which order the cop gave Castile last.
But according to you “their” culture has no respect. And somehow you still think you’re not racist? If you turned that comment around and made it a black person saying it about white people you’d be screaming racism to the high heavens.
You convict yourself.

gladitsnight

I’m not a racist, I’m a realist. Put your money where your mouth is and move to north Minneapolis, or the east side of St Paul.

Whodunnit

The black community says anyone who isn’t black that doesn’t support them is racist

bigdrone

So.?

swagchef

They don’t have to deal with it, until people are blocking their work commute and forcing them to.

sawdustInmyeye

go back under your rock

Whodunnit

This wasn’t a sign honoring him…it was an opportunity to bring up racism. My membership for the Science Museum is up on August 1st. I won’t be renewing it now.

Viktor

Good. We don’t need you there.

Rick

So Vik or who ever you are, how many times have to been there? We’ll wait.

EastSider

Considering the fact that Vik is probably a prematurely gray-haired woman from Mac Groveland , I would guess a lot. Most likely to complain about the stuffed animals.

Whodunnit

No way he doesn’t have 20 cats in his hovel

Highlander

Vik has ridden past it a number of times on the day activity center van.

Whodunnit

Who is we? Do you have a turd in your pocket? I’ve been a member for 10 yrs and I won’t be back, Honoring him when they’ve never honored a St Paul police officer who has been killed on the job? Screw them. If they truly did want to honor him they could have left out the whole 2nd paragraph. This may come as news to the black community but they’re not the only minority in St Paul. They aren’t even the highest minority in St Paul but asians are too busy getting an education and landing great jobs to notice they are suppose to be offended by whites. The largest St. Paul racial/ethnic groups are White (54.8%) followed by Asian (15.9%) and Black (15.1%).

J. Hagensen

I would rather they honor a great member of our community than the guy who shot him.

Whodunnit

great community members aren’t stopped over 50 times for not having a license, driving after suspension, etc/

John397

Good riddance. The SMM doesn’t some klanmen’s money

bigdrone

Since they had an exhibit about race, it puts the sign in perspective. Nothing wrong with it IMHO.

gladitsnight

The sign was about racism, not race. He wasn’t shot because of his race.

swagchef

How do you know this for sure? Oh wait, you have no idea.

J. Hagensen

Oh. Was he shot for the broken tail light? Oh that’s right, it wasn’t broken. Was he shot for having a “wide nose”? Oh, that’s right, he didn’t. Was he shot for not complying with the cops? Well, the cop apparently forgot he asked for his ID then when he reached for it the cop was so nervous about talking to a black man that he pulled the trigger 4 times with a 4 year old inches away.
But it wasn’t about racism? Tell us, oh extremely not racist person, just what would it take, in your world, for something like this to actually BE about race? Would the cop have to have been caught making some statement about his race (like “wide nose”?)? Would the cop have to have actually been shouting racial epithets while discharging his weapon multiple times into the body of a man calmly sitting in his car complying with his orders? Would the cop have to be wearing a white hood? What would it take for you?
But when BLM says that they would very much like for the cops to stop killing black people that somehow is racism?
You don’t want to live in Minnesota, you need to go further south.

Whodunnit

You seem to know everything that happened prior to the video starting AFTER he was shot. Tell me this, do you not think that was a strange time for the video to begin? I’d lay money there was more to Diamonds recorded video we didn’t see. Who would turn on their camera at the very moment someone was shot? Time will tell what happened in those minutes before the video went live.

You feel the officer (another minority) was racist based on one physical description. So tell me this…what words are off limits to describe blacks? are dreads okay? sagging pants? the word black? How else was he to call it in regarding a potential suspect of a crime committed days before?

BLM has no standing regarding black men getting killed by anyone. They are a politically backed organization that is in it for the money. How else would it have been possible for Nekima Levy Pounds to quit her day job? The $$$ is rolling in for many but you’re too blind to see you’re just being used as a pawn in a bigger game. Keep standing on that corner and shouting for racial disparity for a group who couldn’t give a crap about you or other blacks for that matter unless there is a civil suit payday

jsy

And you know this because…?

Bart Vanzetti

That’s OK. I’ll just increase my annual donation.

jsy

I don’t understand. You object to racism or to the very topic of it?

bigdrone

And the police themselves were ok with it:

“Ramsden said the St. Paul Police Department and other police and law
enforcement agencies were aware of the sign before it went up. “We were
open about the sign going up,” she said.”

Whodunnit

Maybe they were open simply because had they spoken out that they thought it was disrespectful, idiots like you would have called them racist. Perhaps they took the high road knowing hardly anyone would see it or care. I would venture to guess the science museum attendees are 95% white on any given day. Maybe they should start giving free yearly memberships to all black citizens to show how much they care about racial diversity. Call them up and DEMAND that

J. Hagensen

And you’re still not racist, eh?

Whodunnit

Do you think that offends me at all? You dopes throw around the racist word any time people don’t agree with your b.s.

Rolf Westgard

I am amazed that the museum would honor a speeder with a defective car, no valid driver license, and no liability insurance.

Opinionsarejustthat

Who deserved to die?

rich11ACR

Did that get deleted from Rolfs’ post. Or are you a washing machine agitator?

Tom K

Who was carrying a gun and had pot with a child in the car.

bigdrone

1) he had a legal permit to carry
2) allegedly the small amount of pot (petty misdemeanor) was carried by his girlfriend

Child in the car and the cop opens up anyway?

Rick

Permit to carry does not make it a smart thing to have it out. I have no problem with pot, I think it should be legalized and taxed, but you CAN NOT have it in a vehicle while driving OR with a child.

bigdrone

He didn’t have the gun “out” according to all accounts I’ve seen. You can have pot in the car but you will get a petty misdemeanor and worse if you are intoxicated past a certain point.

Rick

It looked like it was in the screen shots I’ve seen and if it wasn’t Out, why would it be on the ground outside the car? Just tossed out by a cop or investigator? I have a carry permit and have gone through several classes. No mind altering substances are allowed in a vehicle or on your person while carrying.

bigdrone

Sounds to me like Castile acted pretty mellow (the call wasn’t about drug possession). What was the cop on? Adderall?

Whodunnit

A call is never about drug possession. In case you don’t know, recreational marijuana is still illegal in Minnesota. It amusing that people think it’s okay to possess weed while operating a motor vehicle. Would these same people have an open bottle while driving? I mean people besides Castile’s trashy gf. Seems she likes her Hennessy while driving

bigdrone

Possession of 42 grams or less is a petty misdemeanor. Though one can be busted for DUI if you are severely stoned behind the wheel — driving erratically.

Tom K

Go look at the blown up still captured photos from the video. Conservative treehouse has them posted. Clearly a gun sticking out from under his shirt. You can clearly see the slide and the sights. The same gun is lying in the road with evidence tag #6 next to it after they removed him from the car. Then ask yourself how it got on the roadway? Take it from a gun enthusiast, thats a gun.

Rick

I am too Tom. Not convinced it is a gun, but again, if it was holsters, as stated by Family and friends, why would it be on the ground upholstered?

Whodunnit

How do they know that it was holstered when he was pulled over? Saying he has a holster for it or usually carries it in a holster says nothing about where the gun was at the moment he was pulled over.

bigdrone

If he didn’t pull the gun, all your speculation is mute. The gun is a minor threat in his waistband…but until he pulls it…it’s just a tool…inanimate object…right? The cop F’ed up and should face the music.

Whodunnit

A loaded firearm is never a minor threat….are you nuts? How stupid would Castile be to inform the officer he has a firearm then move his hand in any motion? Geezus….do they not do IQ tests when they give out concealed carry permits?

bigdrone

I thought guns don’t kill people, people do? And you guys feel safer when there’s a bunch of conceal carry dudes around?

Guido

Just curious, but what “accounts” have you actually seen? Privy to some info the rest of the public isn’t?

Guido

While I am not in law enforcement myself, my take on it would be this: Let’s just say for argument’s sake that the gun, or at least a part of it, was visible to the officer when he approached the window. Say for example, it was between the person’s legs, they were sitting on it, it was in their waistband, or something along those lines. Then the person reaches for their driver’s license, registration, insurance card, or moves their hands in any way that puts them in the vicinity of, or in close proximity to the gun or where the gun could be grabbed and / or used. Know what’s gonna happen? I would venture to say that In the overwhelming majority of cases, just what happened in this case. It has absolutely nothing to do with the race of the person. NOTHING. It has absolutely everything to do with the officer perceiving a threat to his / her life and safety and taking action to defend himself / herself against that perceived threat. Personally, I’ll wait for the BCA to tell me what happened rather than assume I know all the facts which I, along with everyone else out there, do not at this point in time.

SouthernGuy

I agree.

At best this did not happen because Castile was Black. It happened because he was stupid.

J. Hagensen

No gun out. Not even the cops are saying that he had a gun out. Just the racists on the PP comments that the PP loves so much. Why are they saying it? Because they just need to have some reason for a cop to shoot a black guy because they’re scared to death that black people might someday want to live in their way outer ring suburb.
But you want to talk irresponsible? How about a cop who radios in that he’s stopping someone for having a ‘wide nose’ (cop code for black), claims the guy has a tail light out when he doesn’t, then shoots him 4 times inches away from a 4 year old.
And as the video proves, the calmest adult on scene was the girlfriend, and the calmest person on scene was the 4 year old.
Does anyone think the cop set out to kill black people? No. But he made a false stop that he had no right to make in order to intimidate a black person as part of the department’s admitted policy of extra traffic enforcement to “deter crime”. Then he lost his cool and forgot what order he had given the driver so that when the driver was trying to comply with his last order he freaked out and pulled the trigger 4 times.
Why does it matter that it was 4 times? Because, if you shoot a guy who broke into your house in the middle of the night 4 times you’d better be able to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was still presenting a deadly threat after the first shot, then after the second shot, and then again after the third shot. If you can’t you are going to jail. But a cop? He gets a medal.

Rick

JH…have you seen the several videos of the Calm Adult? Do you really expect people to take this Adult’s word on what happened? I can provide links if you haven’t seen them yet.

swagchef

Cops are people, and they do sometimes lie. Keep in mind the cop’s life is on the line- which gives him PLENTY of reason to fabricate things.

Rick

I think you should be a cop. You obviously have what it takes.

Napoleon Trombonopart

Gun is shown on her video at 100 sec and 144 . Blow it up you can see the slide and three dot sights,laying behind the wallet in his front left pocket.

Whodunnit

How do you know what the cops are saying? Were you there? Please tell me you aren’t going by just the video footage of some pot smoking hoochie momma who is seem in several videos with hennessy while driving and smoking dope with her disgusted looking 4 yr old in the backseat.

Tom K

Even in states where it is legal, you cannot posses a firearm and be in possesion at the same time. Drugs and guns NEVER mix.

swagchef

Alcohol is also a drug- but you can carry those together (and not get drunk) Does anyone see the hypocrisy in that? The drug-gun law was enacted during the war on drugs to add an extra penalty for drug dealers that carried weapons.

Tom K

One problem with pot is we dont have a way to quickly measure the content of thc in your blood to readily determine just how “high” you are. We can with alcohol and therefore there is some definition of how much is too much. I really havent smoked much pot (i tried it once, but didn’t inhale) so cannot compare. Personally i dont care if pot is legal, but think if you are legally carrying a concealed firearm you should have to refrain from any mind altering substances.

bigdrone

Billy Goat is that you?

SouthernGuy

The legal limit for alcohol while carrying is .04. If you are at .04 or higher this is considered Prima Facie evidence of being under the influence of alcohol and your permit is invalid at that point. That’s a limit of two drinks if you’re a male 160 lbs. or over, though why anyone would carry after even one drink is beyond me.

J. Hagensen

He didn’t have it out. Not even the cops are saying he had it out. Which means that again, you are making stuff up. Racist much?

Rick

Please stop with the racist BS. It is getting old. You know nothing about me.

Tom K

there has never been anything published on the amount of pot they had! What if they smoked 8 dime bags before they were pulled over! Mary Jane’s Law: the amount of pot in possession decreases at the same rate that it is smoked! Go ahead, make excuses for them. I hate excuses.

J. Hagensen

Yet you make a million for the cop who killed a guy without trial for complying with his orders.

NotThatGuy

1. That has been stated, but no county has come forward to say he did in fact have one. Ramsey (the county he lived in) came out and said they did NOT issue you him one.

2. I have yet to hear the amount of pot he had with him, BUT if he DID have his permit to carry, then he would know that it’s a heavy crime to be in possession of both.

3. You can hear the officer screaming “I told him not to reach for it!” over and over! You can see it in his waist band, poking out from under his shirt. These are facts.

swagchef

Who said he was in possession and not his girlfriend?

J. Hagensen

Do you think that cops would be saying he didn’t have a permit if he didn’t have a permit?
You see, all you racists on here making crap up in defense of the cops aren’t doing your cop buddy any good. You just make all of you look like racist liars and that taints your friend as well.

Lonnie Jonson

Hate is not pro police. Police are ashamed of the comments by these racists. It makes cops worry people think these are their friends or the comments are ones they agree with. Cops would prefer Tom K et all shut up already.

Jeff Bol

So anytime a criminal has a child in a car and a gun and possibly reaching for it the cops aren’t supposed to shoot?? you seriously want to use that defense?? Stupid analogy of the situation

bigdrone

It’s pretty simple. You confirm that he is reaching for a gun BEFORE you kill him. Since you already have the draw on him. Perhaps say “stop” “don’t move your arm”. Not that hard.

Jeff Bol

He did that many times over, it is in the video if you just took a moment to listen.

J. Hagensen

Who was executed because he was complying with an officer’s orders. Executed by gunshot inches away from a 4 year old. Who was the bigger danger to the 4 year old? Castile who’s girlfriend had a small amount of pot that at most carried a misdemeanor charge in Minnesota (are we executing people without trial for misdemeanors in Minnesota now?) and in many states is perfectly legal? Or the cop who discharge 4 rounds into a citizen inches away from that 4 year old and at an angle that seriously put that 4 year old’s life in danger?
Are you seriously saying that shooting someone in the front seat of a car with a 4 year old in the back seat is okay and a person carrying a tiny amount of pot is sooo guilty that she should have her boyfriend shot?

IdiotsReverywhere

Sounds a lot like many people including some of your family members I bet.

bigdrone

I’ve seen those charges made in the past, many of which were dropped. I haven’t seen a list of charges from this stop. I guess when your dead, they don’t push it…other then letting right wingers make the accusations.

Rick

Nothing has been released about this incident, so how do you know he was speeding etc. Those were past charges.

Rolf Westgard

We don’t know what happened during that incident.. We do know his driving record. It makes him an unlikely hero and a person who should be off the road. Why he was shot we don’t know. Not a good idea to carry a gun.

Rick

I agree. I never said anything about his record…though I think it has much to do with this case.

Gndydncr

From the story:
Another wrote, “…and just like with a washing machine, this stain will have to be
agitated to get it out.”

Apparently some comments about washing machines and agitators are acceptable and some are not.

Alumni69

Who says racism is not a problem? It’s pretty strong, right here in politically correct Minnesota. No one in his or her right mind would deny that race had something to do with Castile’s shooting.

A Tad Moore

Ummmm…no one in their right mind would make that claim until the facts of the case are available for the public. (John….I mean Jay is that you?)

Opinionsarejustthat

Agree. Certainly, early accounts don’t exactly support the officer, but lets see what the facts are first.

GreaterMN

Early accounts. Mostly from that drug-addled GF? Best to await real facts.

swagchef

It’s a well known fact that racism is pretty strong here. Ask a person of color (especially a black person, but this is Minnesota and there’s a very good chance you don’t know any personally) and they’ll tell you.

Tom K

I would. Are you saying that all latino/phillipino police officers are racist? Or just some? All cops? Even black cops? Can you show proof of your statement? Do you know officer Yanez personally? Can you provide an example where he displayed racist behavior in his past? Black police officers commit 10% of all police shootings and 78% of the time they shoot black people? Are black cops racist?

bigdrone

Ever considered that the institution itself is racist? Of course it may be the product of dealing with violence from people of color. Still doesn’t make it right.

Tom K

So all cops are racist? Its chicken $/!t to say its “the institution”. Stereotyping all cops based on the actions of some is doing exactly what you are railing against, judging one by the actions of similar people. So ok for you to judge cops but not for others to judge on race! I say treat everyone as individuals, all the same. let their actions determine your response. Not a shred of evidence as been presented that yanez has ever discriminated against anyone. If he was a racist cop, how does he have a clean record for his entire four year career? Without specific evidence that yanez is racist, then give him the benefit of the doubt, the same way you would like to be treated.

Jon Jay

this is from the same chucklehead who refers to vets as ‘killers’. it’s opinion isn’t worth a turd.

Tom K

I know three that are!

Whodunnit

So a minority police officer shooting another minority is racism? Have you cleared the meaning of racism with the BLM group yet? They claim it’s impossible for blacks to be racist because they are a minority and only a race of power can be racist. Last I checked Latinos are also a minority in the US

Viktor

Yes. Anyone can have racist beliefs, and can be enabled by a racist justice system. This system enables police of any color to brutalize and even kill people without repercussion can be wielded by anyone in power.

They just tend to focus on black people, and see black people as threatening, so they arrest more black people and shoot more black people even when all of the data collected show that black people and white people have roughly the same level of criminality.

Gndydncr

“…when all of the data collected show that black people and white people have roughly the same level of criminality.”

I’d like to see that data.

Whodunnit

He made that up in his head

Whodunnit

I know this will come as a surprised to you, but 80% of the crimes committed in the twin cities IS by black people so it would be no wonder they are focused on criminals who happen to be black. What is so hard for some people to understand if you follow the law you likely will never come in contact with a police officer in your life. How difficult is that really?

swagchef

You’re going to have to cite your sources with a bold statement like that. I’ll wait.

gladitsnight

The officer is Mexican. Also a minority.

SouthernGuy

Racist. Racist. Racist.

That word is tossed around with abandon.

Just what does “racist” mean?

Pat Kittle

A “racist” is someone who’s winning a debate with a SJW.

Pat Kittle

Black-on-White crime VASTLY exceeds White-on-Black crime.

That doesn’t bother you though, does it?

OkieDoke1

His life was a joke. He was pulled over 52 times in the past and was a banger.

jonez

Law enforcement getting defensive about Philando Castile would be like all parents getting defensive about child abuse. If you’re not causing harm you got nothing to worry about.

swagchef

Law enforcement considers any critique of their techniques tantamount to wishing death upon them.

say_WHAT???

Progressives should demand the unions be decertified until such time that the police can behave.

Fact is, the union is going to protect a bad cop just as aggressively as they protect a bad teacher.

That’s what union dues are for (other than making HUGe donations to the DFL).

jsy

Nice try. Clearly false. Cell phone and dashboard video put the lie to the long held delusion that only the guilty need fear.

We have seen people killed while lying in bed, sitting on their front porch, thrown down stairs, gunned down while unarmed and then having weapons planted on them. – And more and more and much, much more, and much worse.

We have witnessed unarmed 80 year olds shot while attached to intravenous apparatus. With these many officers being observed and recorded and it being obvious that for every one caught there are inevitably many more that are undocumented, we have a situation that is clearly unacceptable.

The shame lies not only with the police departments and police unions, but with a society wherein an entire population has appealed for rescue over decades and were not believed. Blacks have proclaimed that their treatment by police was biased and brutal and whites of the day would neither listen nor act.

jonez

You misunderstand my analogy. I’m not excusing the police. I’m commenting on their overreaction when criticized.

jsy

My sincere apology. You are entirely correct not only as touching on my misunderstanding, but also in your insight into the mind of even well meaning police officers.

John397

That’s the problem. Anybody who doesn’t
The police’s way is against it. The cops want to bully everybody into accepting their false naratives. There is serious racism within the police department in Minnesota. Denying that and also that the police treated Black suspects worse than White is disingenuous and dangerous.

OkieDoke1

Black areas are dangerous.

John397

Cops are sworn-oath-bound to protect us regardless of race, creed, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion. Not all Blacks are dangerous.

bigdrone

Seems protecting themselves comes first.

Whodunnit

John, your argument is moot because unlike blacks, when white folks commit heinous crimes they aren’t marching the street or even going on the news professing their innocence. Every time there is a case of anyone shot, they need someone to blame regardless of whether their son, brother, friend was involved in gang violence and criminal activity for years. The police are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. I don’t know how they do it these days…continue to protect people who chant in the streets F the police and pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon and yet they’re the people they call the minute there is a shooting, car jacking etc. If you hate the police so damn bad….sort your issues out yourself

swagchef

Police need to be held accountable. That’s all we’re asking for. Police unions have negotiated an unfair contract that benefits only officers. I’d love to sort issues out myself, but we don’t have stand your ground laws here in MN.

Daytonsexownsmn

100% of peodophiles are white males? Sayyyy whatttt? Do you think pedophilia is non existent in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, or South America?

NotThatGuy

I guess Wayne WIlliams (one of the worst child molesters/killers in history) was actually a white man…

gladitsnight

Many pedophiles are black. I am a social worker and incest runs rampant in their families.

Bobby Loomis

And who do you think solves/solved all murders in north mpls by blacks against blacks? The very white cops and detectives you call bullies.

When 9% of the population commits 64% of all crimes, race will ALWAYS be an issue.

WeekendThinker

Go over and hang out on Payne Ave in St. Paul for a while. See the mobs of youth all gathered, storming into stores and robbing them blind, and keeping decent citizens locked in their houses. See how or if you survive that. You won’t. They just simply won’t let you.

Minnesota is sitting on a powder keg ready to explode if justice is not served in this Philando Castile case. The police rotten mentality of us against them mentality is what stands against true justice in Minnesota. We’re tired of cops getting away with murder. Since 2000, 148 murders by the police in Minnesota no charge on any. The BCA cannot be trusted. It is a bunch of Minnesota cops in bed with their union and other cops. That’s why Dayton from day 1 has called for a federal and independent investigation. Minnesota cannot afford another injustice after another police controversial shooting. The whole world is watching us.

bigdrone

I’m sure most of those 148 killings were justified, but it’s statistically impossible that none, zero, of them were not. IMHO the police shooting of Castile was criminal, but I suspect the officer will get off. You are right, until justice is done in the most blatant of these shootings, the cops (and us) can’t expect peace.

EastSider

You need a lesson in statistics.

Napoleon Trombonopart

And you were there and know exactly what Philando did ?

Daytonsexownsmn

I dunno…..I’m thinking manslaughter or reckless endangerment is possible, but I’m certainly not a lawyer and I don’t know what the proper charges would be. However, my minimal understanding is that murder is likely out of the question. We just don’t know all of the facts yet and if he will be charged.

swagchef

It’s only going to get worse with the violence against police. People are tired and see no other way. They’ve been passive for too long. I’m not advocating violence, I’m just making projections based on historical events.

AreWeOneOrNot

Please define “us”.

John397

Us is defined as the police in general White policemen in particular against any aggrieved communities and those seeking justice and police accountability,

gladitsnight

Thank goodness he is Mexican then.

bigdrone

So if he’s a citizen of the United States, he’s “Mexican”?

Lonnie Jonson

“….. in general.”

gladitsnight

I know his family. I should have said Mexican American.

Lonnie Jonson

What does knowing the young man’s (I’m assuming you are referring to the officer) family have to do with anything? “I like sugar” would have been equally relevant.

gladitsnight

I was explaining why I referred to him as Mexican, rather than the generic description Hispanic.

Lonnie Jonson

Oh my.

SouthernGuy

(sigh)

Viktor

Fragility 101.

Gndydncr

There will never be an honest discussion about race until people can handle the truth.

Bobby Loomis

And in answer to that question: “RACE: Are We So Different”. Ahhh, yup.

Rick

Yes, we are. We could get along though. But the way people post on these things I doubt it.

bigdrone

Good point.

Jeff Bol

You know, It’s not that we couldn’t get along, I am just tired of Being blamed for The problems that Blacks cause themselves. It will now be that every time a Black person is shot by a cop regardless of the situation, They will be blamed and stupid Protesters will find a way to turn it around on the Police.

Ms. Jones

If you had nothing to do with it why does it bother you how someone else feels about something? Respect their opinion as you would want yours respected and move on. I cannot tell anyone else how they should feel because I don’t know. I think the frustration comes when Caucasian ppl tell blacks to move on and get over things. That’s all we have been doing – dealing with it and never truly moving past it with resolve. So when you (not you personally) tell me to stop being so upset, sensitive, get over it and move on – I have a problem with you telling me I shouldn’t feel a certain way about something that has happened to me or my family. I enjoy enlightening ppl on why I feel the way I do and it allows us to have a conversation for them to see things from my point of view. I just want ppl to see where I am coming from and see where my mind is without judging me based on their perception. <3

Jeff Bol

where did I say get over it?? you read what you want to , but all I stated is I am tired of being blamed for your problems. I don’t see where Blacks are out ion force protesting the gang shootings killing innocent kids>?? no where . Your fearless leaders I.e. Betsy Hog. Gov Drunkalot Dayton. Have never confronted that. Why is that please enlighten us??

Ms. Jones

Did I say YOU? Practice what you preach sweetie. You get defensive when I simply told you where some feelings are coming from. That’s all. You won’t see any protesting of “blacks against gang shootings” because you aren’t in the communities and media doesn’t cover every rally, protest or gathering against violence sweetie. Don’t be so judgemental – I just stated my opinion on why some might feel the way they do. I never said you said get over it – but have you ever said that to anyone before because your response was quite defensive. Instead of pointing out issues you see (even though within the communities we have protests, rallies, meetings) make suggestions about how to change things so that you are apart of the solution. I didn’t say you specifically told me to get over it but a lot of ppl have said that regarding various things that have happened. If the tables were turned you would feel a certain type of way too.

J. Hagensen

So blacks are out there posing as cops shooting blacks?

Rick

I don’t understand why people think officers will take off the vests, put down the guns, and sit and wait to be killed by anyone. If it is so BAD to protect themselves, we might as well have NO laws. Then we’ll have the military on every corner. If that is the case, I’m getting more guns and ammo.

bigdrone

As far as I know, no officer is putting any of those tools down. Protect the citizen as first priority or DON’T BECOME A COP.

Rick

I agree. They aren’t, but that’s what people want…in my opinion. We all have opinions, but not our own facts. My question is, after all this crap going on, what makes you or anyone else, think we’ll have more applications to serve? Perhaps minorities will step up, but I doubt it. Nor whites.

bigdrone

Police careers are still in demand. Mostly from vets. Which on one hand I think is good and on the other hand not so much. Yes, we need more minorities in the force, and maybe starting with training killers (vets) ain’t such a good idea. IMHO, cops should be payed better and trained better.

Rick

This officer was a minority. Maybe even a vet? I don’t know about that. YES! paid better! And not peed on by others.

swagchef

Remember when officers said “FREEZE!” or “STOP OR ILL SHOOT!” I miss those days. They’re taking much of the risk out of policing, and shifting that risk onto us when they shoot first and ask questions later. The narrative is that there’s a war on police, when policing is the SAFEST it’s been since the 50’s-60’s. Meanwhile, police-involved shootings have gone up. Why is that?

Guido

I think that there are 8 “blue” families in Dallas and Baton Rouge that would disagree with your ridiculous comment.

John397

Until we start treating each other as individuals not as a group of people we might be heading to another civil war. The lack of accountability of policemen and their killing by some crazies are the perfect signs of bad things to come inMinnesota if no justice is served.

Rick

The same accountability applies to the people committing crimes. We need stronger penalties and much better parental…parenting.

bigdrone

I’ll give you better parenting, but increasing sentencing does nothing to deter crime.

StPaulHeartandSoul

It sure does with the offender who is incarcerated.

swagchef

How would better parenting have changed this situation? The man was a productive member of society, he worked at an elementary school of all places. The kids even seemed to love him. Hopefully you’re referring to teaching kids not to fear people of color. There are more efficient and cheaper ways to reduce crime without sticking people in jail for longer. We’ve tried that, remember mandatory minimums? How did that work out?

Rick

Lots of people who have been loved and productive members of society have lived lives different from what co-workers have seen, regardless of skin color. 50+ infractions (that were caught) tell me that someone wasn’t brought up to respect laws.

swagchef

So what you’re saying is you haven’t broken 50+ infractions in your lifetime? Especially driving infractions. You’ve never speeded, never did a rolling stop, never parked illegally? He was given exactly 82 citations, 47 were dismissed. He had been pulled over 49 times. The man was POOR and needed to get to work. He was caught in a cycle. First you get a ticket, then you don’t pay (or pay late and fees are tacked onto it) and your license gets suspended. You need to get to work to pay the fees, so you risk another ticket. The man was clearly profiled. I’ve been in traffic court/arraignment for traffic offenses- and guess who I see. Mostly minorities. Here’s an article that can explain in more detail. http://www.startribune.com/castile-lived-in-a-cycle-of-traffic-stops-fines/387046341/

Rick

Bus. Taxi. Walk. Get a friend to drive you. Bicycle. Find a job closer to home. No…by all means, break the law and continue to drive.

Rick

I’ve been pulled over 3 times…speeding, incorrect turn, and forgot to get tabs, so I can’t disagree with that. But I have been poor, so I know what it’s like. I’ve had to walk, bicycle, taxi, get rides from friends, and find a job closer to home. Risking another ticket, IMO, was the furthest from his mind.

Rick

So what you’re saying is you haven’t broken 50+ infractions in your lifetime? NO. Especially driving infractions. NO. You’ve never speeded, never did a rolling stop, never parked illegally? YES.
The man was POOR and needed to get to work. I’VE been poor too. So poor that I had to pawn a wedding ring. So what? He was caught in a cycle. HE could have gotten out of it by not driving. THE rest is of this is foolish. I’VE been in traffic court too.

swagchef

I find that hard to believe. There’s a litany of offenses we all commit on the daily which we don’t even know are illegal. If you don’t have transportation to work, how are you supposed to pay the fine? Sure, he could have not driven- but he was pulled over for something unrelated to his driving record. That would have not prevented him from getting killed. The fine should be tied to your income like they do in Europe, as they’re an increased burden on the poor. If you make 100k a year, what is a $100 ticket to you? You have no idea what his situation was, so who are you to say what he could have done. It’s about survival. Sometimes you have to break the law to make sure you can put food on the table. Other than traffic offenses, the man seemed to be a stand-up guy.

sweetjulie85

Race really isn’t the issue. Poverty and the whole subculture that goes with it is. I think most of the people who have a problem with young, inner city black youth have no problem at all with a black doctor, or a black professor, or even just a black guy with a good job and nice family.

Rick

I agree. But I think the biggest issue is Attitude.

bigdrone

I agree with your sentiment. But that doesn’t excuse these police shootings. The latest in North Miami is unacceptable. You don’t like BLM? Then some of these officers, though we all know it’s a damnn tough job, have to receive justice. Then BLM will evaporate.

Daytonsexownsmn

Do you think they will? Because even after our justice department did a thorough investigation under Eric Holder, people still believe Michael Brown had his hands up in surrender. I don’t disagree that some of these cops deserve prosecution…but BLM needs to learn which battles to pick. There are plenty of injustices out there that they don’t have to stick with ones based on lies.

John397

Philando Castile is a good battle. If this cop is not charged of something then no cop will.

say_WHAT???

Thank God you’re not the judge or the jury.

What are you basing your conviction on?

say_WHAT???

If you want your cause to be righteous and respected by the majority of people, then you have to be careful about choosing your martyrs.

This is why 95% of white people admire MLK, Jr. He had earned the respect of the nation through his focused efforts on a moral basis for his cause..not an outraged basis.

God….these cities so need a leader again like MLK…who can give moral authority to the lack of personal responsibility of too many in the inner city.

StPaulHeartandSoul

Mark my words. North Miami was an accidental, negligent shooting. It is irrelevant to the conversation.

Andrew Voyer

I would agree, but three shots? that’s not accidental. That’s intentional.

StPaulHeartandSoul

Most SWAT AR15s have a selector position for a “3 shot burst”. I strongly suspect the officer had it inadvertently set there (which is easy to do). Then he negligently but accidentally pulled the trigger.

Ms. Jones

3 shots isn’t accidental – its intentional and even sadder the fact he said he didn’t know why he shot Mr Kinsey and he meant to shoot the Autistic young man with the toy truck in his hands… smh

swagchef

Only once laws are enacted on the federal level will they evaporate.

say_WHAT???

THAT IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

Why is it the answer to every progressive wet dream is to turn it all over to the Trump Administration?

You think some dill weed bureaucrat in Bethesda cares one lick about your neighborhood?

You want change? Change it?

This is like the stupid silly argument that since your roads need repairing, Al Franken should get involved.

If your roof is leaking, fix it. If your bridges are falling down, build a new one. You don’t need Washington DC to do it for you.

Or…maybe you do…and we now know what the real problem is.

White Privilege…..thinking you can just call up Al or Amy and get the Feds involved.

say_WHAT???

You don’t have the facts from North Miami, nor do I.

It’s why patience is a virtue.

Turns out there’s not a lot of virtue going around any more.

People are mad as hell…and President Obama says things are peachy keen.

Tootyfruity

Hm. Well, every well-to-do black person I know–every doctor, every lawyer, every professor, ever black guy with a good job and a nice family–and many black women, too–have all been stopped, repeatedly. In their suits, in their white doctor coats, in their tuxedos. In their nice cars, in their jogging clothes, with their children in the car. Stopped and harassed by the police. So yes, race is really the issue.

SouthernGuy

Interesting. I know several persons of minority races. None of the Asians I know ever complained about being stopped unfairly by cops, and only one Black person has made that complaint. Maybe it’s more a big-city thing.

One thing that did occur to me: considering the crime rate among Blacks being multiples that (considering the crime) of Whites, and with Black violent crime against Whites being something like 85-15 as compared to the opposite–is it possible that the cops (who are undoubtedly aware of these statistics as well) are stopping Blacks to establish a presence? Letting people know of police presence seems a pretty good way to forestall criminal activity. I’m not saying it’s justified. I’m not even saying it is happening for that reason. But there is a certain logic to it.

Tootyfruity

No, Asians are not profiled in the same way. and have you ever asked any of the black people that you know about their experiences or did you wait for them to tell you? If you really want to hear from people of color–who are pretty much traumatized now–that’s always, mentally, their son, their brother, their husband, their uncle who just got shot–you’d have to not only ask, but then keep quiet and really listen to what they say. It’s not an easy think to do–the default is a knee-jerk interruption when you hear something that doesn’t sound like what was expected, but I challenge you to try it. Your perspective might change. Considerably.

As for the crime issue you talk about: I’ve lived in South Central Los Angeles and I’ve lived here, and crime is just not a big issue here, among black people or white people. I don’t see what you’re saying.

I think if you look closely at this incident and others, you’ll find some underlying causes: 1) racial profiling (with something like 5% black population, Falcon Heights’ traffic stops affect more than half black people–and of those who are stopped, 83% of whites are given just a warning while 67 percent of blacks were arrested–for similar traffic stops. 2) city funding: as taxes are cut further and further, cities are making their monies off the fees–and white people tend to have more money and resources to fight those fees. In his 32 years, Philando Castile–who we knew–paid over 5000 in fees for minor offenses that you or I might get a warning for. That’s not including what he spent on legal fees. Phil could have had the downpayment for a house from that.

And we’re talking a guy who once spent $50 bucks on a cab to get from Robbinsdale to Chelsea Heights School because his car broke down and he insisted on getting to work. A decent, responsible guy who our family knew and is grieving for.

So, I’m not even going into the outrageous Make-A-Cop-Paranoid training that the officer went through, which was paid for by his police force. Or the white, middle-aged NRA educator who had gone to talk to his chief a couple of years ago because he was terrified during a traffic stop that was poorly handled and had a terrified, shaking cop standing in the wrong spot for a traffic stop, and holding a gun on him while he got his license from his glove box. The Chief’s response–he dismissed the complaint and instead praised his officer’s behavior.

Give it a try–talk to people you know. Or go online and read posts from educated, non-criminal black people living in low-crime areas–(these are usually where they get profiled the most.) I’d be interested to hear back from you.

Tootyfruity

By the way, nationally, Black violent crime against whites is about 15%. The 85% has been repeatedly debunked and came from a white supremacists website.

SouthernGuy

I got my statistics from Department of Justice numbers.

Is the DOJ a “white supremacist” organization?

Tootyfruity

Uh, where on the Department of Justice website did you find that data? I find white supremacist websites reporting supposed data that match those figures. Nothing on the DOJ website.

littlesuzi

I rode the bus with children who were from a family of 19 kids. They had nothing and we all thought they smelled. They were white. They all overcame their “poverty and became responsible citizens and lived lower middle class lives like the rest of us/

J. Hagensen

How many were shot by the cops?

I also grew up poor and white. I wasn’t perfect by any means and, according to some of the rednecks posting here, if I had been black I would have deserved to be cop shot for some of the things I did.

swagchef

Science says race IS the issue. http://www.fairimpartialpolicing.com/bias/
You’d be surprised how much hate people have in their hearts. For most white people, anything other than throwing around the N word doesn’t qualify as “having a problem” In Minnesota this stuff isn’t shared freely like it is in other regions of the country. People are REALLY starting to see how people feel about Black people/racial issues now that these things are in the forefront.

Tom K

The problem is change comes from within. It comes with parents teaching their children to love everybody. If children are taught racism, it is tough to change that in many cases. Our lives are 75 years on average, and therefore it takes generations for change, not days, weeks, or months. This applies to all races, not just white people. When racism is passed from generation to generation, then all the marches and protests are not going the change many folks minds. I grew up with some racism in my house, and the difference maker for me was religion. How can I be a good Christian and have ill feelings about someone because of the skin they were born with? They are not compatible with each other. I am trying to pass this to my children to do my part for “generational change”. I try very hard to not judge anyone by appearance, but sometimes its difficult. I do believe that you “catch more bees with sugar than salt”. If you are trying to influence someone, “sugar” is always better.

SouthernGuy

An interesting post with some good points. However I don’t believe that change necessarily is a generational thing.

I grew up with what today would be considered racism, sexism and religious bigotry. For example, “Ni__er rich” was a term use used commonly, a “mixed marriage” was one where our spouse was NOT both A) Catholic and B) Slovenian (and heaven help you if your chosen mate was not only a different religion but a different race as well), pregnant-before-marriage was as stigmatizing to the family as Hester Prynne’s letter “A” and divorce would cause the family to disown you forever. But we were also raised to judge PEOPLE on individual merits. The result was that of myself and my siblings, there was one out-of-wedlock conception, two divorces, 80% marriage outside “the faith” and one interracial marriage (mine). And we stopped using “Ni__er rich” And guess what? Mom and Dad changed with the times, not only accepting but welcoming the “love” child, attending marriages held in (gasp!) churches OTHER than Catholic, and welcoming my Thai spouse with open arms.

Attitudes are one thing. But attitudes can change with the time. The key is valuing people first as PEOPLE.

Tom K

I agree, but even when individuals change, they might not have children or when they do, it might be many years before they can pass along their beliefs to their children and those children go out into the world. But when a family passes on racist beliefs to their children, and the children dont change, then those tendencies live on for 75 years. I think we have made progress in this country. We are a unique melting pot of races and cultures. No place really like it on the planet when it comes to diversity. I grew up 10 miles north of East st. louis, Il. Back then very segregated, much racism. I have seen the same change you mention in your family, but it is a slow process. Demanding it and expecting it overnight is not going to happen. I think it will continue to get better, but being militant about change is not going to speed up the process, and may actually slow it down.

say_WHAT???

Because you’re a progressive, that’s your viewpoint.

My anscestors immigrated here without a penny in their pocket. Got on a boat to nowhere with only the promise of opportunity, liberty and freedom.

Then my anscestors got on an wagon train and headed west to nowhere with only the promise of opportunity, Liberty and freedom.

It’s in my DNA…the belief that tradition, loyalty, sanctity and respect are part of our moral code along with treating people fairly (not as children…but FAIRLY). We don’t get hung up on white guilt or ending oppression, because my anscestors didn’t believe you ever treated anyone as a second class citizen unless they earned that disdain. At which point, they treated them with Minneosta Nice….smiling to their face and talking about them behind their backs, just like every race in the history of mankind has done.

Tom K

I am anything but a progressive. I am as conservative as they come. My grandfather immigrated to america by himself, at age 10. He ended up near St. louis where i grew up, 10 miles or so north of East st louis, il. When i grew up there, the area was very segregated, white towns, black towns and only a few towns were integrated. I saw lots of racism as a kid. It went both ways. I dont have any white guilt, i never hurt anyone with my actions. I do want to end oppression, though wherever it may exist. Not exactly sure of your point.

Tom K

You are correct, at least in my eyes. Its a culture that many are against, not a color. And it can becomes pretty clear after a short interaction whether the culture people fear is carried by the person in question. I think it is human nature to be cautious and your mind sees and compreheds a lot of info very quickly. This always leaves the possibilty of wrongfully judging someone by their appearance, but perception is reality.

RobbinBri

Any white person who gives this place money contributes to their radical anti white racist agenda. $ talks…..talk wisely.

swagchef

Stop pulling the race card

J. Hagensen

You got his number. What a maroon.

RobbinBri

We will if you will. And we all know you won’t because after a dismal 200 year failure on the part of your culture the race card is all you have left.

swagchef

Failure? You mean America’s failure to not enslave and kill people all over the globe for financial gain? Historically, white people have been the most violent. Who wiped out the natives? Who killed the Jews? Who’s bombing countries all over the globe? And those world wars? Sure, Africans kill other Africans in Africa, but it’s nothing compared to a guy named King Leopold II of Belgium. His death toll is anywhere from 5-15million.

RobbinBri

“Failure? You mean America’s failure to not enslave and kill people all over the globe for financial gain?

You turn a blind eye to some of the greatest mass murderers of all time because they don’t fit your racist agenda.

Who wiped out the natives? Who killed the Jews? Who’s bombing countries all over the globe? And those world wars? Sure, Africans kill other Africans in Africa, but it’s nothing compared to a guy named King Leopold II of Belgium. His death toll is anywhere from 5-15million.”

You think you speak for Natives? They hate you more than we do.

J. Hagensen

Wow. Way to play the race card. So respecting a much loved member of the community is about race now? Well, what isn’t about race to you?

RobbinBri

Beloved? By whom? Me? DOUBT IT!
The museum has no business getting involved in a case where the facts aren’t known. As far as playing the race card. Really???? That’s just rich coming from your community who plays it every ten seconds.

Highlander

I am a strong supporter of the police but personally I think that race played some part in what happened to Mr. Castile. However what I, or any other person, thinks is not relevant and statements accusing Mr. Castile or Officer Yanez of various acts including criminal actions are irresponsible until the BCA has completed it’s in depth investigation and revealed the results. The Administration of the Science Museum used very poor judgement in erecting the sign honoring Ms. Castile.

J. Hagensen

Mister Castile, not Ms Castile.

Mr. Castile was a much loved and honored (in a citizen kind of way) member of the St. Paul community. Those who hate blacks because they do whatever the hater thinks that only blacks do should be angry at the killing by traffic stop of the kind of black person they say they have no problem with. Yet instead all we see on the PP is racist themes and made up ‘facts’ about the traffic stop. “Facts” that even the cops aren’t claiming. All to somehow make the killing of a good man okay because he was black.

Is that not a reason to honor the man?

And still the PP has not run the story of the North Miami caregiver shot while lying on the ground with his hands up. All the other news outlets have run the story, but not the PP. Wonder why? No need to wonder when you see the sort of comments they encourage on their website.

Haight Male

As with everything, I’m sure the taking down of the sign all came down to $$$$$. Major donors threatened to withhold their money, regular folks threatened to boycott the museum. It’s always about money.

WeekendThinker

I don’t think the sign should have gone up in the first place. The Science Museum is for everyone to use. They should not be getting into supporting outside matters. Stick with science.

Jon Jay

it was probably ‘consensus’ among staff , so nowdays that’s ‘science’.

John397

The police union will intimidate anybody who asks for fairness and justice. Look at how they try to bully the Lynx heartfelt gesture mentioning of the victims of police brutality and violence against police with jackass remarks according to the mayor of mpls. They went after Movie maker Quentin Tarantino for protesting police brutality. The Cleveland White police union head accuses Obama of having blood in his hand ‘ cse he asked them not to dismiss the minorities’ concerns. If anybody knows police mistreatment it is Obama, not the fascist Trump whom the police union wants to be president.The SMM shouldn’t taken the sign down because these police apologists bullies won’t anything except endorsing their false narratives. Even Blacks officers have issues with some of the union tactics. The Cleveland police chief who is Black has to repudiate the police leader who is White by

Whodunnit

The Lynx broke the uniform law….it’s as simple as that. If the players want to join a BLM protest, etc. off court no one is stopping them, Their job on the court is to play basketball, not act as an advocate for a social issue. Would you be okay if the opposite happened? Imagine sports teams all over the US wearing shirts that “change starts with us – listing the officers killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge on the back and Bluelivesmatter?” The NAACP would have been all over that.

Trump doesn’t want to be president…he has a good chance of BEING president. Do you know who is pushing all the voters to his side? People like you. Btw…police union leaders are equally mad at Obama’s message and blame him as well. How dare he irresponsibly make excuses for black behavior and put the police officers all over the world in harms way

Raj Beekie

I do believe the Science Museum was premature in putting up the sign. What also got my attention was the question, “RACE: Are we so different?” In the whole scheme of things, race does not make us different. Culture is what makes various groups different. In a nut shell culture is about beliefs, values, assumptions, transmitted behaviors, etc. For example, Governor Dayton and Donald Trump are referred to as white. However, they are distinctly different culturally. Similarly, a black and white who have the same beliefs, values, assumptions, education, religion, etc. are culturally similar.

Katherine Kim

I am appalled and sickened by some of the comments here. So many of you are looking for an excuse, any excuse, for why it was okay to kill a man with a small child in the car. I’m guessing none of you have ever had your life threatened after being pulled over for some minor thing. In fact, I’m guessing none of you have *ever* been pulled over under any false pretenses.

Black people are basically saying “stop killing us” and you all are saying, “well….”

swagchef

“well…he had tickets!”
“well…he had pot! and a (legal) gun!”
“well…black people commit crime, so I’d be scared too”
“well…race had nothing to do with it! Police can’t be racist!”

jsy

“well…You just confused the hell out of me!”

“well… he had pot… pot smokers must die! most Americans have smoked pot at some time… it’s ok to kill them!

“Police can’t be racist”?! Where do the enlist FROM!? Do they descend directly from heaven or are the applying from the same gene pool as the rest of us? You know, the good, the bad, the nuns, the serial killers, the volunteers, the rapists, and what-have-you.
By the way, if you are scared of people because of their color, maybe you shouldn’t be a police officer.

swagchef

People love to talk as if they’ve never broken the law, ESPECIALLY in regards to traffic laws.

Raj Beekie

Hi Katherine, thanks for sharing your perspective and your sincere concern. From my perspective, I don’t believe people are looking for an excuse to kill a man. I believe from a broad view people are tired of being blamed for what is happening. They would like to see some personal responsibility. Instead what they seem to be hearing are excuses for failure. This incident was the valve for pent up frustrations.

say_WHAT???

Who knew if I sped, ran lights, didn’t have insurance or a license…..I could get half of those things tossed out by a sympathetic judge.

If you’re carrying and concealing and don’t have your Glock in a holster but instead have it down the front of your pants….perhaps you should have your license and registration in your hand….and on the wheel…before the cop even gets out of his car.

At least that’s what I told my kids when I had “the talk” with them.

jsy

How exactly does the fact that in his life he has; driven over the speed limit, ran a red light, driven with expired insurance, driven with suspended license, change the fact that he obeyed every instruction the officer gave, informed the officer in advance that he had a legally permitted firearm, only reached for his license when the officer told him to and was shot dead with multiple rounds?
By the way, “the talk” you had with your kids would see them shot dead if they were to: 1. Be black. – and 2. Pay any attention to that advice.
ANY black parent would know better than to advise any black person they cared about to go rummaging in their glove box before the police officer ordered them to. That is a great way to be killed.

say_WHAT???

Funny about that…..we don’t know if he obeyed every instruction the officer gave…..do we? Unless you’re taking the word of his precious girlfriend as gospel, which I probably wouldn’t do; at least until the toxicology report comes back on the young man.

If there weren’t hard actual video evidence of them driving around smoking pot and drinking whiskey with a 4 year old in their back seat, I’d say you had an unprejudiced witness. As it is…I think her testimony is as accurate as the 8″ of snow Paul Douglas forecast for us last night.

I’m willing to suspend judgement until the facts come out. I’m simply saying the # of tickets he had thrown out would never be a consideration for someone like me with my skin color and my ethnic background.The district attorney isn’t so kind to my kind when these matters come before him.

jsy

By ” tickets he had thrown out”, do you mean the $7,000 he paid into the town’s Ferguson-like low-income driver milking program? I refer to the one set up to:

1. Keep the driver on the road, and

2. keep fining him so that he never gets far enough ahead to get his insurance, tags, repairs, etc. all taken care at any one time.

It is a very popular system. Perhaps it even accounts for a goodly portion of your town’s revenue as well. The good news for you is that it helps keep the more prosperous resident’s taxes down.
Or it may be as police officers in both Dallas and New York have recently gone on public record admitting: that it is department policy to target Blacks and Hispanics for tickets and fines while utilizing moderation in the case Whites, especially women.

The New York officer went so far as to secretly record his supervisors instructing him so. So you see, it is not an exercise in “kindness”, but rather a sound, calculated, income strategy at work.

One can only wish for the time when you to fall into such tender care. You never know, an illness, an accident, a reversal of finances, you may yet someday get to enjoy a life such as was his.

say_WHAT???

See…..you’re blaming the person who’s enforcing the law instead of the person who’s breaking the law. If the license tab fees are too much, he really should vote for a Republican because they….like the Libertarian Jesse Ventura…Don;t think they should be more than $75 a year. It’s the Democrats who put in place high taxes…then tell the police to go get more money through tickets and enforcement…and then put in place high taxes on liquor and cigarettes so guys like Eric Garner feel compelled to break these Democrat Party imposed laws to sell “onesies” on the street corner for $1 a smoke. Then when the police are instructed to go arrest him for denying the Big City their tax revenue and the guy has a heart attack..the Progressives attack the Progressives in the Progressive Cities. It’s mildly entertaining…IMHO.

Every example you cite of big cities using this system are Democrat run cities. The police unions are bought and paid for by the Democrats. The high sin taxes are bought and paid for by the Democrats. The enforcement mandates to maximize revenue is put in place by the Democrats.

And yet….this is a Republican problem.

See the problem?

It’s called Scotoma. The mind sees what it wants to see.

jsy

I could not say it better myself. A sure symptom is thinking in labels and slogans.

say_WHAT???

Btw…I’m not excusing all cops who make bad shoots. The cop in Chicago should go to prison. The cop in Florida who shot the mental health worker? He will be fired and the city will pay a huge lawsuit to settle it. I’m just glad the guy can live to talk about it..but it’s not a cop intentionally assassinating a black guy like so many want to make it out to be. The cop should have had his trigger finger off the trigger and the safety engaged. There was no weapon and there was sufficient distance between the police and those two as to not be threatening.

That having been said….HOWEVER….I don’t know what was going through the cops mind based on facts on the ground. The cop may have seen a white guy holding a weapon on a black guy and rather than waiting for him to shoot the black guy, the cop shot at the white guy. The cop said he missed, which would make sense since it wasn’t a kill shot.

I’m still of belief that the criminal justice system can largely work these things out. Social media does not help when it doesn’t share the full context of a situation.

We’ve all had incidents where cops overplay their hands…I don’t care what color you are.

jsy

My issue is not that the CJ System CANNOT function justly. It is that for decades and decades it HAS NOT functioned justly. My issue is with the fact that the system so often operates under a “We will blindly support the officer, right of wrong!” policy.

That attitude has simply sewn too much pain for far too long. This is OUR country. That means that we all share in the blame if we close our eyes to injustice. I can’t help hurting when I think of all the decent, honest people of Germany when the Lie ruled and the innocent were being ground to powder. Now years later, those decent, honest people, they still feel the shame of not doing SOMETHING to stop it.
I don’t want that and I don’t want it for other decent, honest people.

jsy

By the way, I’d love to see the video you mention. I haven’t been able to find anything like it. Could you please reply with a link?

say_WHAT???

You really didn’t see that? WCCO even interviewed her mother, where she said her daughter was addicted to Social Media and was a narcissist. They ended up pulling all her Facebook streaming feeds and showed them (I can’t remember the site, but you can google it as well as I can.). Let me put it this way….if these videos are used as character references during any testimony she provides….she’s history. Lucky for her enough suckers have ante’d up nearly $100k for her Hennessey and Pot fund. The person I really feel sorry for is this 4 year old daughter. She did nothing to deserve this, and yet there her momma is….on FaceTime….telling her peeps that whatever they do….don’t have a kid…all while the 4 year old keeps pleading with Momma (who’s showing off her derrière in a tight fitting dress) to let her go outside and play. Sad…

jsy

Googled it. YouTube’d it. Can’t find anything like you have described. Distraction in any case. What is the bearing on the issue of a wrongful death? What did Philando Castile do to deserve to be shot and killed?

say_WHAT???

I’m simply saying that the narrative you’re buying is framed by her narrative, and the integrity of her narrative is already being called into question…not unlike Michael Brown’s little sidekick who ought to be serving 3-5 years for perjury that burned a city down.

You don’t have the facts, nor do I.

if you rush to judgement, then you’ll be extremely disappointed as you likely were in the Jamar Clark, Eric Garner and Michael Brown cases.

If you want virtue, it requires patience.

I don’t think he did anything to deserve to be shot and killed. I’m saying that until you have the facts, you don’t know what the cop was processing that triggered his feeling that he needed to use lethal force right then and there.

I’d love it if you’d see the video of the BLM leader from LA who went through Police Academy type training of use of lethal force. In a split second in the simulation, he was shot dead by the suspect he thought was innocent…and the next scenario shot the suspect dead who was really innocent.

say_WHAT???

This is one of the tamer versions. This girl shot video of herself quite a bit with her phone.

The cop probably just made a stupid mistake. No need to blow it out of proportion – it’s not like the PD trains them to shoot black people. And he wasn’t pulled over under false pretenses. He had a break light out. I’ve been pulled over for that. This is not a black and white issue at all, it’s just people like yourself and the media make it out that way.

jsy

Actually he wasn’t pulled over. His girl friend was pulled over, as she was driving the vehicle.
The police stated reason for pulling them over changes with the prevailing wind. Currently it vacillates between the fact that he had a wide nose and the fact that he had a broken taillight.
In light of the latest shooting of an unarmed man in Florida it may change to the officer was trying to save him from being shot by shooting him.

say_WHAT???

I noticed that on the video she posted. It looked like he was in the passenger seat, and I was wondering if the FB video she took reversed the image. Thanks for clarifying. He was stopped because he looked similar to a suspect in an armed robbery. It wasn’t a felony stop because it was only suspicion, but it would explain why the cop was on high alert during the stop…and when he reached for his wallet…his hands went right across his wasteband where he had his pistol tucked in (not in a holster).

jsy

All black people “look similar to a suspect” in police officer reporting. It is a blanket excuse as old as profiling.

say_WHAT???

Except in this case…the goatee…hair length and even the exact model of the glasses was an exact match. Look at the photos of the robbery overlaid against his picture…and remember….he just got a haircut prior to the shooting so the goatee difference is easily explained by the trim. And….why is a guy with a conceal and carry permit carrying a pistol upholstered in the front waist band of his shorts?

Sorry…but the cop walks on this one. I hope DA Choi makes the call himself. If he has any guts, he will.

ipmut

I will not renew my membership.

Pat Kittle

Real science acknowledges the theory of evolution.

For example, when 2 groups of the same species are geographically isolated for extended periods, they evolve different characteristics — physically, cognitively, disease resistance, and so on.

Is overwhelming Black success in the NBA, and overwhelming Black failure in academics, purely due to the way they grow up?

Hint: Real science is not politically correct.

bigdrone

Hitlerian “science” has been debunked as an excuse to be racist.

Pat Kittle

Look up “Godwin’s law” and get back to me after you learn to think for yourself.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnColbyPhD_UC_Santa_Cruz/about John Cohen-Colby

What do you consider “REAL SCIENCE”? You aren’t even a scientist…are you a Climate Change denier?

Pat Kittle

Trollby:
Selfish human over-breeding, along with all the other ecological horrors it’s causing, may also be changing the climate.

But even if humans have no effect on the climate, we know the climate has changed abruptly many times in the past, and there’s no reason to think it won’t do so in the future. That’s one more reason why it’s so important to stop human over-breeding. The Earth cannot sustain ever more billions of humans, most of whom would rather get rich than practice conservation.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnColbyPhD_UC_Santa_Cruz/about John Cohen-Colby

Now you’re making sense. Why can’t you talk this way about other issues? You’re clearly intelligent. Maybe we can converse on topics of commonality.

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